


Unforeseen

by PuriPura



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Bad Decisions, Drama, Gen, Homelessness, Minor Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:15:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25370749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuriPura/pseuds/PuriPura
Summary: Now several years after junior high, Yagyuu is a teacher at a university. While heading back home from the first day of his career, he comes across an old friend who he finds is now living on the streets. Despite the strange circumstances, the two of them reconnect and hang out like they used to during their school days. However, things soon change and not everything goes as well as either had hoped.





	Unforeseen

A little over a decade had passed since the Rikkai tennis team lead by Yukimura first formed in junior high. Now that they were adults, they were independent and doing their own things. Yukimura, Kirihara, and Niou were the only players from the team that went pro while Sanada become a kendo sensei and opened his own dojo. Marui went to work for a sweets cafe and Jackal went back to Brazil with his family. Yanagi was going to medical school to become a doctor and Yagyuu had recently become a teacher at a university near his home town.

The team promised to stay in touch with each other throughout their lives but as years passed by, they slowly lost contact with one another. Only Yanagi and Yagyuu still had each others contact. They tried to chat on their cellphone every now and then so not to lose what promise was left. Strangely enough, Yagyuu had lost Niou's contact sometime after high school. He came to the conclusion that it was because his friend was pro and didn't have time to chitchat. That was the case with Yukimura anyway. If anything, Yagyuu knew he could at least hear about Niou through tennis news. Or that's what he had hoped. After a year or two since he became pro, there wasn't any talk about Niou but Yagyuu didn't think too much of it. He knew Niou liked being mysterious after all. So it wasn't really alarming. Still, he secretly missed talking and hanging out like they used to. Even if Niou did sometimes get them both into trouble, there was never a dull moment together.

It was a Monday morning. Yagyuu woke up earlier than usual and immediately went to do his regular morning routine. After taking a shower, he brushed his hair and made breakfast and a cup of coffee. Then he gathered his things before leaving his apartment and heading to the university. It was the first day of his career and he wanted to be presentable and on time. First impressions were everything.

He arrived at the school almost two hours before classes began and was greeted by one of his fellow co-workers. The man showed him to the teacher lounge and Yagyuu spent some time listening to the other teachers talk about their vacation breaks. They were also kind enough to share some of their teaching methods with him, of which, he took mental notes of.

As the school hours got closer, Yagyuu made his way to the room that he would be teaching in and walked in. He sat at his desk and pulled out a folder and a text book from his bag. When everything was organized, he took out the outline for the day and looked over it. First and foremost was introductions, both of himself and his class. The rest of the period they would be going over what to expect from the class and what they would have learned by the end of the semester. It seemed adequate enough for the first day.

Half an hour before class began, students started coming in and taking a seat wherever they liked. They talked amongst each other while they waited for their class to start. As soon as the hour changed, Yagyuu took out the class syllabus and stood behind the podium. He adjusted his tie and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. When the room was quiet, he began his introduction.

"Good morning, class. I am your science professor, Yagyuu Hiroshi. I want to thank you for coming today. I am a new teacher here but I expect the same respect you give to your other teachers. Since this is the first day of class, we will be going over the syllabus so you will know what to expect from my class." He looked over his students for a moment before continuing. "But first, I would like each of you to introduce yourselves and tell a little about yourself. It will be a good way for me to get to know you and learn your names easier. Now, how about we start with this side of the class?"

As soon as he finished teaching his last class and everyone had left, Yagyuu grabbed his messenger bag and exited the university. All of the talking he had to do throughout all of his classes had left him quite tired. He had never spoke so much in a single day before. The first thing he would do upon arriving at his apartment was take a nap. It was much needed and well deserved. After all, he still had some papers to fill out and sign. Being a teacher was going to be tough and tiring but that was okay with him. Something about teaching others knowledge made him feel good and accomplished inside.

A silver haired man was leaned against the wall of an alley. He bounced an old tennis ball on a scratched up tennis racket. His clothes had several holes in them and there was dirt on his hands and face. Despite everything else, his shoes were still in decent condition. The man noticed Yagyuu walking by and his mouth opened in surprise. He stopped bouncing the ball and let it roll off the racket and onto the ground.

"Hiroshi?"

Yagyuu froze when he heard his first name. He turned and his eyes widened when he saw his old doubles partner and best friend looking at him. "Ni-Niou?" He walked into the alley and Niou pulled him into a hug. Yagyuu returned the hug then took a step back. "What happened to you?"

"Eh? Oh, right. You probably didn't expect to see me on the streets after all this time, huh?" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"You're...homeless? How? I thought you were playing tennis professionally."

"I was for a while but then things started to stop working out, so I quit."

"I'm sorry to hear that but could you not find a job after you quit?"

"Nah. I didn't really bother looking. Since all my hard work had gone down the drain, I felt like my life was meaningless and just stayed in bed all day. Eventually, I ran out of money to pay the house rent and ended up here on the streets."

"Why didn't you contact me or anyone else? I'm sure we could have helped you."

"I didn't want everyone to be disappointed in me so I decided it would have been better to just go quiet."

"And you're okay with living like this?" Yagyuu furrowed his brows in concern.

"I've gotten used to it." He waved his hand dismissively. "But enough about me. Did you become a teacher like you've always wanted?"

"Er...yes. Today actually happened to be my first day of teaching. Everything went pretty smoothly. My students were attentive and respectful. And I got along well with my co-workers."

"That's good."

Yagyuu nodded silently and rubbed his arm, feeling slightly awkward. Never would he have imagined his friend becoming homeless. Seeing him like that was strange and uncomfortable.

"Um, I'm sorry you have to live this way...I wish I could let you stay with me until you can get a place of your own, but I have limited space in my apartment. That and I'm going to be so busy with teaching..."

"It's alright. I said I was used to this kind of life."

"But what about your health? Are you able to feed and take care of yourself?"

"No worries. Plenty of women spare some change with me. Even homeless, I'm still popular with the ladies." He chuckled to himself.

"Hm. I don't have money with me right now but I'll gladly give you some next time."

"Really? I mean, you don't have to."

"No, it's the least I could do."

Niou raised an eyebrow but smiled. "Thanks. It's appreciated."

"You're welcome." He looked at his watch and adjusted the strap of the messenger bag on his shoulder. "I should probably be heading home now. It was nice talking with you again, Niou-san. I hope to see you tomorrow."

"I'll be here."

Yagyuu bowed quickly before going on his way again. Niou walked back to his spot and picked up the tennis ball. He resumed bouncing it on the racket and leaned back against the wall. With closed eyes, he hummed quietly to himself. Homeless or not, life had just gotten more interesting.


End file.
